William Schuman writes a "Symphony for Strings"

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1943, the Boston Symphony and conductor Serge Koussevitzky gave the first performance of a “Symphony for Strings” by the American composer William Schuman.

Schuman was just 33 years old at the time, but Koussevitzky had already been programming and commissioning Schuman’s music for about 5 years. Koussevitzky had already given the premiere performances of his popular “American Festival Overture” and the Third Symphony.

Schuman’s “Symphony for Strings” is dedicated to the memory of Koussevitzky’s wife, Natalie, whose family fortune that enabled Serge Koussevitzky to establish himself as a conductor, found a publishing house, and commission many of the 20th century’s most significant works, including Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms” and Bartok’s “Concerto for Orchestra.”

In Russia, the Koussevitzkys championed Russian music. In France, they supported French composers. And, beginning in 1924, when Koussevitzky became the music director of the Boston Symphony, many American composers benefited from this remarkable couple’s enthusiasm for new music. Schuman’s “Symphony for Strings” is just one of a long list of the Koussevitzkys’ American commissions, which includes works by Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Samuel Barber, Walter Piston, and Leonard Bernstein.

Taken as a whole, the concert music commissioned by Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky remains one of the most remarkable musical legacies of the 20th century.

Music Played in Today's Program

William Schuman (1910-1992) Symphony No. 5 (Symphony for Strings) I Musici de Montreal; Yuli Turovsky, cond. Chandos 9848

On This Day

Births

• 1833 - Russian composer Alexander Borodin, in St. Petersburg (see Julian date: Oct 31);

Deaths

• 1948 - Italian opera composer Umberto Giordano, age 81, in Milan;

• 1966 - American composer Quincy Porter, age 69, in Bethany, Conn.;

• 1972 - Czech-born American composer Rudolph Friml, age 92, in Los Angeles;

• 1976 - American composer Walter Piston, age 82, in Belmont, Mass.;

• 2013 - British composer Sir John Tavener, age 69, in in Child Okeford, Dorset;

Premieres

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 139 ("Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott") performed on the 23rd Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1866 - Delibes: ballet "La Source,'" at the Paris Opéra;

• 1881 - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2, by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Theodore Thomas, with Madeleine Schiller the soloist;

• 1888 - Tchaikovsky: symphonic fantasy overture “Hamlet,” in Moscow (Gregorian date: Nov. 24);

• 1931 - Rachmaninoff: “Oriental Sketch” for solo piano, in New York City, by the composer;

• 1943 - William Schumann: Symphony No. 5 ("Symphony for Strings"), in Boston;

• 1973 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 14, in Leningrad, by the Beethoven Quartet;

• 1974 - Crumb: "Makrokosmos II" for amplified piano, in New York;

• 2002 - David Del Tredici: “Grand Trio” in New York City at the 92nd Street Y by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio;

Others

• 1738 - Handel completes Part II (“Moses’ Song”) of his oratorio “Israel in Egypt” (see Julian date: November 1);